Participatory Agent-Based Modelling and Serious Games with Cormas on Pharo

Talk from ESUG 2024

"Participatory Agent-Based Modelling and Serious Games with Cormas on Pharo"

PDF: http://archive.esug.org/ESUG2024/day2/04-2024-esug-cormas.pdf

1. Pierre BOMMEL, Oleksandr ZAITSEV
European Smalltalk User Group (ESUG) — Lille, 9 July 2024
{pierre.bommel, oleksandr.zaitsev} @cirad.fr
CIRAD, UMR SENS, Montpellier, France
Participatory Agent-Based Modelling
and Serious Games with Cormas on Pharo

2. 2
SENS (Savoirs, ENvironnement, Sociétés = Knowledge, Environment,
Societies): a mixed research unit in 3 institutes: CIRAD, IRD and University.
https://umr-sens.fr/
Multidisciplinary team between the social sciences (anthropology, economics,
geography, sociology, law, political science), life and environmental sciences
(agronomy and ecology) and sciences and technologies (modeling and
computer science).
For 25 years, we have been developing an ABM platform
to help manage natural resources.

3. Agent-based modellingPart 1:

4. 4
ABM to simulate socio-eco-system
Crossing various dynamics
Understanding socio-ecological systems (SES)
- Consequences between individual practices
in interaction with natural resources' dynamics.
- Explore various modes of collective organization

5. 5
ABM to articulate Micro/Macro levels
5
Emergence,
Auto-organisation

6. 6
ABM examples (Cormas VW)
Groundwater pollution in Costa Rica

7. 7
Alternative farming practices to deforestation in the Amazon
Example of ABM (Cormas VW)

8. 8
CBB spread in Central America
Savannah landscape mosaic under
shifting cultivation, North CameroonCoffee rust spread in Nicaragua
Emergence of resource-sharing conventionsNetwork evolutionExample of ABM (Cormas VW)

9. 9
Unique Features of Cormas
… that make it well-suited for companion modelling
!Different «Points of View»
"Live dynamic environment where everything is an object
⏰Stepping back in time
Observe a simulation from different perspectives
at the same time (multi-windowing)
Interact with anything at any time without stopping the simulation
Move back the time, change conditions,
continue on alternative path

10. Immersive coding
Thanks to Smalltalk, Cormas benefits from
A reflexive language
A powerful debugger
Introspection, to inspect and analyse any object of the simulation
Intercession, to amend its semantic and behaviour
Takes the modeler to the heart of his simulation
Offers a more substantive vision of the way it operates.
Put yourself in the place of the agent
Debugging is a learning process in itself
Live coding
Helps modellers check their model
Develop models directly from the debugger.
A great language to prototype
a model and check it works

11. 11
Cormas Platform
✓Based on years of field experience
✓Now, implemented in Pharo
✓MIT Licence
✓Dynamic community
✓Well-suited for companion modelling

12. Part 3:
The Companion ModellingApproach

13. 13
Companion Modelling
1
2
3

14. Designing with UML
Object diagram: Editor to help modeling beginners understand
object-based concepts

15. Designing with UML
Class diagram: Editor for collaborative modelling and generating
the structure of the code

16. Collective designing with UML
Activity Diagram: Editor to modify the decision rules of an agent
and execute its behaviour
Bommel P., Dieguez F., Bartaburu D., Duarte E., Montes E., Pereira M., Corral J., Lucena C. and Morales H., (2014).
A Further Step Towards Participatory Modelling. Fostering Stakeholder Involvement in Designing Models by Using
Executable UML. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation 17 (1) 6.
Farmer explaining a simulation

17. Part 4:
Serious Games

18. 18
What are Serious Games?
Games that are used for purposes other than entertainment
Example: MilitaryExample: Railroad Planning

19. 19
What are Serious Games?
3 types of Serious Games use

20. 20
How do we use them at CIRAD?
Role-Playing Games (RPG) - players
assume roles of characters in fictional
setting: farmers, fishermen, policemen,
government, animals, etc.
Games are highly accessible
Even people who cannot read or
write and have never used a
computer can participate in a
simulation represented on a game
board

21. 21
Example of game: Planet C
"Because there is no Planet B"
An interactive,
collaborative game that
uses collective intelligence
to manage resources
https://planetc.org/
designed to make you
rethink your beliefs and
empower you as an
Architect of Change

22. 22Oleksandr Zaitsev © CiradOleksandr Zaitsev © Cirad
Example of game: Planet C
"Because there is no Planet B"

23. 23
Example of game: Dukunú Molê
Loose translation from Fôrro Creole: «Save forest or die»
A serious game developed in São Tomé and Príncipe to better manage the forest
and, consequently, the unique biodiversity existing in this archipelago.
Pure board game or Computerized board gameThe Cormas grid

24. 24
Software Support for RPGs
Facilitators use a software tool
to perform calculations
Players don’t see the tool
The tools calculates the new
environment and outputs it
on a surface
Update the EnvironmentHelp FacilitatorsFull Automation
The more complex is the game, the harder it is to manage. Facilitators have to remember
all the rules and quickly update the environment in response to players’ actions
The tool can take input from
players, produce output and
manage the game on its own

25. 25
Models as catalysts to favor the commoning
Debriefing: the most
important phase
100% human RPG... Intermediate ...100% computerized ABM
Empower citizens to be
the actors of their own
social transformation

26. Computer ScienceChallenges
Part 5:

27. 27
Migrating from VW to Pharo
Pharo CormasVisual Works Cormas (discontinued)

28. 28
Migrating Cormas to Pharo12
Currently we use Pharo 9 (deprecated distribution)
(a) Migrate Spec 1 to Spec 2
(c) Improve the UI
‣Hernan’s ideas
‣Re:Mobidyc
(b) Decouple Spec from
Roassal and from Core

29. 29
Reducing External Dependencies
Simple things should be simple
•ProjectFramework !
•Tabular
•SpecUIAddOns
•CodeGenerator
•pharo-urucu-navigator
•class-editor
•SState
•Grease
•Pharo-l18N
•PetitParser
•Roassal2
•Mustache
•StringExtensions
•FuzzySearcher
•NeoCSV
•NeoJSON
•InstanceEncoder
•PolyMath

30. 30
Decoupling and Testing
CoreVisualisationUI
Define a model,
run a simulation,
generate data
Should be small,
have minimum
dependencies,
have good tests
Visualise the space,
different POV, square
/ hexagonal cells,
sprites
Depend on Roassal
(or Bloc)
Accessible and
interactive UI to build
models & run
simulations
Depend on Spec
(or Toplo)

31. 32
Support Games
Games are also ABMs where players are agents
Every model is
potentially a game
Every game is
necessarily a model

32. 33
Smart Game Board for Planet C
Players interact with computer simulation by moving pieces on a board
Hybrid game board that combines
interactivity of board games with the
power of computer simulations
Developed by our colleagues from
Cheikh Anti Drop University in Senegal
(UCAD, ESP)

33. 34
Challenge: Debugging ABM
Modellers may ask different debugging questions than other developers
Have to deal with many live objects
that have autonomous behaviour
and can cause strange phenomena
Models are usually small and
their code is easy to
understand
Software DevelopmentModelling
Developers have to explore
large code bases with many
dependencies

34. 35
Challenge: Testing ABM
Companion modelling requires quick coding and prototyping
Published model must remain valid,
reusable, and reproducible
Modelling phase
Post-modelling phase
without tests
with tests
time
effort (cost)
In ComMod sessions, speed and
simplicity are the key factors
Q: What is the testing workflow for ABM that
would not interfere with ComMod practices?

35. 36
Summary
Development Innovation
•Migrate Spec 1 —> Spec 2
•Migrate to Pharo 12
•Reduce unwanted dependencies
•Reduce coupling
•Good test coverage (and good tests!)
•Bring all the missing features from VW
•Propose a metamodel to support:
-Companion modelling
-Games
-Resource management
•Debugging ABM
•Testing practices for companion
modelling (e.g. generated tests)

36. •Google Summer of Code
•Pharo Summer School & ESUG conference
•Internships at Montpellier and Lille
•Apprenticeship (master education + paid work)
•PhD and Postdoc
Work with us
Learn Pharo
https://mooc.pharo.org/
https://advanced-design-mooc.pharo.org/
https://books.pharo.org/
https://mastodon.social/@cormas
Get in touch
Pierre BOMMEL
[email protected]
Oleksandr ZAITSEV
[email protected]
CIRAD, UMR SENS
https://github.com/cormas/cormas
https://cormas.cirad.fr/ (old)
Follow Cormas